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(Love the illusory quality of this photo by DanielHKC. The endless-seeming series of doors is perfect imagery.)
Vice Presidential daughter Liz Cheney has an op-ed in the WaPo today, continuing her daddy's vendetta against Nancy Pelosi and, by extension, anyone who wishes to contradict his approach to foreign policy. From the Cheney op-ed:
It is time to face facts. Talking to the Syrians emboldens and rewards them at the expense of America and our allies in the Middle East. It hasn't and won't change their behavior. They are an outlaw regime and should be isolated. Members of Congress and State Department officials should stop visiting Damascus. Arab leaders should stop receiving Bashar al-Assad. The U.N. Security Council should adopt a Chapter VII resolution mandating the establishment of an international tribunal for the Hariri murder.
As Jane pointed out yesterday, there are a whole host of reasons that Dick Cheney, Elliot Abrams and their malignant little bunch of neocon political hack compadres want everyone to rip into Nancy Pelosi...but it has absolutely nothing to do with the efficacy or lack thereof of diplomacy and, instead, goes to the heart of propping up Dick Cheney's vision of the world and his power base in the Bush White House. Nice of his own daughter to give him an assist today (with the help of the WaPo, where she has become quite the regular op-ed contributor of late), isn't it? Especially since daddy got her placement at the Middle East desk in the State Department as his personal eyes and ears. Nothing like having a daughter-on-the-spot to keep the diplomats in line, I always say. Among the Cheney clan, it's nepotism-R-us, as usual.
Via Scarecrow and Martha, this piece from Scott Horton in Harpers raises a lot of questions -- most of them aimed right back at the Bush Administration:
Djerejian recounts four separate trips he took up to 2005 setting up communications between the State Department and Damascus, which led to the recent visit of Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey to see President Assad. Baker and Djerejian want to keep the White House focused on the war against Islamicist jihadis like al Qaeda, but it's an uphill struggle.
Counterterrorism officials are already struggling to keep Bush administration officials focused on al Qaeda, which they see as America's immediate mortal threat. Going after Syria full bore holds little attraction for them, especially considering the regime's past collaboration against al Qaeda.
But like a house with a new coat of paint, appearances can be deceiving, especially when it comes to Damascus. Djerejian, who spent many years in the thick of Middle East intrigue, says he wouldn't be surprised if the CIA is still playing footsie with the Syrians. "But to be honest with you, I don't really know -- and let me be clear on that," he said. "But I wouldn't be surprised, because it's too damned important."
"It's goddam important," he repeated. "I think it serves our national security interests, if those relations could be maintained." The Syrians, he said, "have a lot of information [about al Qaeda]."
Which brings us to an obvious point. While the Neocon attack dogs have taken on Pelosi, she's hardly the real target. The crew they want to intimidate and silence are James Baker, Edward Djerejian and the residual reality-based community in the Department of State. (emphasis mine)
While the internal struggle continues between the self-styled realists and the self-styled "reality makers," the rest of us are having to deal with picking up all those dropped pieces. And the cost of this? Why don't we ask the Afghans and the Iraqis, including the deceased members of the Iraqi Parliament killed by a bomb in the Parliament building today, well within the supposedly secure Green Zone? As well as the families of all of our folks in uniform? Or our servicemembers themselves, including the folks in the Army who just had their tours of duty in a combat zone extended yesterday?
All this finger-pointing at Nancy Pelosi is just so much more deflection from the failures of George Bush. And allowing The current President Bush and his cronies a backdoor means to continue their fight against Daddy Bush and his foreign policy pals is just further enabling the continued idiocy. Isn't it well past time that we shined the spotlight on all of the many folks who caused all this failure in the first place?
Less deflection, more change. And a whole lot of disinfecting sunshine. Why don't we start by aiming a whole batch of it toward Dick Cheney's still festering intel chop shop and shadow national security apparatus at the Veep's office? Now there is an area well worthy of some serious oversight. Phase II intelligence report, anyone? Anyone??!!??
UPDATE: Comment of the morning from Louise Desjardins:
Have we done this sort of thing before? Send a daughter out to write an op ed? Do we ordinarily send people out pro bono to work for us? Or did her father send her on assignment?
Mwahahahaha. Well done, Louise! (And, as an aside, are you by any chance related to my pal Steven?)
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This is an even better article, about AG / Bush Whitehouse pushing for longer data retention.
I think this graph is choice:
Yes, how do we maintain that evidence?
Morning Christy!
Morning Christy!
Just getting to the Lake.
Morning gang. :)
Oh shoot, thought I was making a new comment but was stuck in edit on the first one.
This question occurred to me last night while reviewing the day’s developments: Is there anything that Bush/Cheney has not broken?
Sid Blumenthal in Salon today on the bifurcated functions of a parallel administration, divided into military and diplomatic on the one hand, and political on the other:
Jason Sigger (The Armchair Generalist) points to this piece in today’s Boston Globe about the exodus of young West Point graduates from the Army. The rate is higher than it’s been since before 1977.
I’ve seen reports on military-related websites that the exodus rates for non-USMA junior officers and senior non-coms with 10-15 years of service are similarly high. When people bail when within sight of the 20 year retirement threshold it’s an ominous sign. These folks would have been the core of the future Army, folks.
Morning, Christy and all. Looks like we should get a disco ball to direct the sunlight into all these nasty, infested little corners.
Also, Pelosi held her own very well this a.m. on “Today” with Mrs. Dan Senor (aka Campbell Brown).
During a town hall meeting last month, I asked my Senator Ron Wyden about when we would see phase 2. He seemed surprised and actually happy that I brought it up. He stated it was a “high priority” of the chairman of the intel. committee (Rockafellar, whoe office also said it was a high priority) but couldn’t tell me when I could expect to see it. After the meeting I approached him to further press my point, and he said, “you keep hammering” for it..or something to that effect, then changed the subject telling me that he expected that the CIA Inspector General’s report on 9-11 was given a 30 day deadline to declassify it’s report. I can’t remember exactly what Wyden said about it, but the words “contitutional crisis” did pass his lips. That deadline is April 16th by the way. Phase 2 has been a pet peeve of mine for almost 4 years now and I still want to know when we can expect to see it.
The slamming of Pelosi is for one big reason:
If Bush/Cheney are impeached, she becomes President. The worse she looks, the more impeachment looks like a bad idea (to people who buy this shit.) So when impeachment comes up, the Repug spin will be, LOUDLY, would you rather have Pelosi as President? And as a bonus, will be, this is what the Democrats want, an appeaser of terrorists to come in, without being elected, and be our President. It sickens me to say it, but this stuff has worked for them before, and I can’t imagine it not working again.
Liz Cheney is absolutely right. It’s time to face facts. All the rest of her Rove-written diatribe is bunk. Smoke and mirrors and unending hallways. BTW, things are getting so much better in Iraq. Insurgent just blew self up in the Iraqi parliament cafeteria in the Green Zone, killing and wounding parliament members. Time for another McCain stroll in Wonderland?
The explosion in the Iraqi Parliament building is an other sign how well the glorious surge is working.
EPU’d comment but, is FDL Cafe Press no more?
Christy:
Ed Djerejian’s son Gregory writes a blog called the Belgravia Dispatch, which is always an interesting read (he calls himself a “former” Republican).
http://www.belgraviadispatch.com/
His third post down (dated April 8) has this snippet which is on point (heck, it’s the theme of all our discussions these days–complete failure of our leadership and the need for people to try to step in, however possible, to staunch the bleeding…)
(snip)
“The real reason that Nancy Pelosi’s visit caused such a stir is that it reminded the world that the White House has no Syria policy. It was another in a long line of the ‘emperor has no clothes’ moments. The hysteria about it was mostly a function of it showcasing how dismally we’ve dropped the ball in the Middle East. If we had a Secretary of State worth her salt on such issues, authorized by the President to speak and deal-make with adversaries, things wouldn’t have gotten to the point where former Republicans like myself would actually be cheerleading one of the more underwhelming foreign policy lights on the Hill for calling the Administration’s bluff and traveling to Syria.”
(snip)
The bathtub is full, Dick Cheney and George W. Bush and Karl Rove now have their hands on our collective heads and have been holding us underwater for some time now.
-GSD
TPM has a shocking piece about the whole USA’s voting fraud effort.
It is a world turned upside down. They have stopped all efforts at preventing voter disenfranchisment and have instead turned the mighty powers of the US government to prosecute those most likely to be disenfranchised.
The corruption is so thorough, so complete and so malignantly destructive that the government is in deep peril.
Yet, we still have the corrupt, crony daughters of Dick Cheney shoving their filth down our throats.
Have we done this sort of thing before? Send a daughter out to write an op ed? Do we ordinarily send people out pro bono to work for us? Or did her father send her on assignment?
Minnesotachuck @ 18, the future military will be Blackwater mercenaries if the neocons have their way.
Louise Desjardins @ 17
Simply brilliant analogy. Hear! Hear!
If Al Gore had similarly installed one of his daughters in such a position while being Vice President, the MSM would have beat him over the head relentlessly for it. The shrieks of nepotism and political favoritism (from the MSM) would not have ceased until she was shamed from the position in disgrace.
It would have been a subject of daily discourse on par with Ana Nicole’s babydaddy or the diaper-wearing astronaut.
The MSM is absolutely corrupt and complicit in the dismantlement of American democracy.
Gnome de Plume @ 6
Their perfect string of failures.
Were these people born stupid, or did they take lessons? Welcome to the 21st C. You simply cannot “isolate” nations and peoples, regardless of your impressions of legitamacy. The world is much, much larger than the Roman empire you and yours aspire to, Liz, honey.
The only reality Cheney _could_ acknowledge is his own shadow realm (think Frodo when he slips on the ring).
Anyhow it’s all moot. This untouched photo clearly depicts Shooter right before he was carried off by a Steller’s Eagle. Apparently, quails have connections…
He’s off to an undisclosed location, I guess.
GSD:
Didn’t you just love that TPM piece? (cough) Living in Madison (evilliberalhippiebastion), we watched the hullabaloo about the Milwaukee voter fraud panic with interest. Then nothing. Zippo. Nada. Hmmmm.
m.
This war is about one simple thing, which is “hiding in plain sight” - Rabid dogs are trying to keep a theocracy from controlling a goodly share of oil in the Middle East.
The threats from Syria and North Korea are simply red herrings to make sure American plebes keep their eyes off the real ball.
For example; The careful avoidance of discussing Shiite vs Suni - a deeply ingrained cultural divide that knows no “national boundaries.”
National boundaries are a western concept which has no real meaning in a theocratic culture. We keep getting hoodwinked into believing there is an “enemy” but there is not. Not Shiite, nor Sunni, but theocratic control of people and their resources.
Our Naked Emperor and the dark forces that drive him - Cheney and the Oil Patch boys - wants to have a “nation” - read, government - in control of people and resources existing within a boundary drawn by Britain in 1918 dividing Shiite and Shiite.
The oil patch boys can control a “national boundaried” government. They can’t control fundamental religious fervor and the culture it spawns.
They want a perpetual war, which is all they can muster to control the people and resources within this artificial line.
For example; McCain is getting ridiculous in his pro-Iraq stances because he wants to tap the money and power Bush tapped to give him the presidency.
Last thread
mui @ 152
I tend to think the whole thing is bogus. As cbl pointed out, training with the mujahedeen under the Bush I. wasn’t exactly terrorism against the U.S.
I guess I am always going to be skeptical given this administration’s past record. I have to raise an eyebrow when I see “US Attorney says . . .” given the current scandal.
Kathleen..this was in the article
“In April 1998, Paul went hiking with “several co-conspirators” in Burr Oak State Park in Glouster, Ohio, about 78 miles southeast of Columbus. They were training, the indictment states.”
Of course it could be bull. this is bizarre but I spent months knocking on doors encouraging people to vote and get involved in the Glouster, Trimble, Chauncey region. I have begged, the new Democratic Congressman Zack Space ,(took Ney’s spot) our new Senator Sherrod Brown and Governor Strickland (put in hundreds of hours for these good guys) to pay more attention to these very poor areas that have been completely ignored during the Republican hold on Ohio.
This is old coal mining territory. Many people strugging (used to have union paying jobs). Now struggling to stay on family land with low paying jobs.
Louise Desjardins @ 17
Let’s not forget the whole Wilson/Plame affair. The very fact that Joe was married to Valerie was a sign of nepotism and insider corruption that negated everything Joe Wilson had done. According the devious, and power-addled mind of Deadeye Dick Cheney, shotgunner of old men.
I can’t take much more of this madness. It really is madness.
-GSD
wow. Redd, you are on FIRE today.
hope you dont mind a long comment. if you do, please let me know and I wont repeat.
A short history lesson: Invading and Occupying Another Country
The tipping point for most 18th century Americans was April 19th, 1775. Up to that point, most Americans believed that America would continue to be allied with and governed by the British crown. That day changed everything. Americans finally stood up and said: we aren’t going to take it any more. From that point on, the notion of independence was firmly planted in the American psyche. It took several years (with a repeat in 1812-15) to expel the British invading/occupying forces, but we prevailed.
(Source: Harvey J. Kaye; Thomas Paine and the Promise of America.)
Skip ahead to 2007. How do you suppose Iraqis feel now? Think they might be past the tipping point?
While looking for a war czar, Jorge, be on the lookout for a foreign policy czar. And an FBI czar, a Homeland Security czar, an Education czar, and czar on.
OT and EPU’d: WaPo’s columnists — this morning it’s Novak again — are trying to claim that Valerie Plame wasn’t a real spy in the sense of the IIPA:
But, per the IIPA:
IIRC:
(i) There was testimony at the Libby trial that Plame’s association with the CIA was “classified.”
(ii) Plame herself testified to Congress under oath that she had served outside the United States during the five years prior to Novak’s publication of her affiliation with the CIA.
So, now the time has come for the Washington Post and its stable of columnists and editorialists to put up or shut up. If you have some evidence that contradicts this sworn testimony, in the name of justice bring it forward. If not, forever hold your piece.
Gnome de Plume @ 6
that’s a polite way to put it.
Sally @ 29
Why not just declare himself Czar and get it frigging over with?
-GSD
The Don Imus situation illustrates how the media wants to focus on the race issue and avoid the gender slur, of which it is the more egregious, so they can avoid having gender slurs against Pelosi and HRC not be called into account. We must not let them play this little trick.
Sami Rasouli, an Iraqi-born American who lived in the U.S. for 30 years, gave up his business here to go “home” to see how he might help. Heard him speak earlier this week. And his eloquent (and well-supported) plea to the U.S. (his country–he’s a citizen here) is Get. Out. Now. His word pictures of what is happening there in our wake is beyond disturbing. And his most powerful metaphor was this: You cannot leave the rapist to oversee the woman he has raped.
Louise Desjardins @ 17
hilarious! thanks.
Gnome de Plume @ 6
Rumor has it that he’s already started trashing offices in the WH in preparation for the incoming Democratics.
jmba @
10
He’s been dodging my questions (letters and emails) for more than two years now… I can only believe his “surprise” was insincere. He doesn’t seem to care…
Can we convince him we’re serious and he should get moving on this?
GSD @ 32
I’m sure he’ll get to it once he brings in this year’s crop of brush at his brush ranch. It’s hard work.
Louise Desjardins @
17
would be funny, but so sad, This time there is truth to the charge.
Biodun @ 7
Thanks so much for this link. Blumenthal always nails it IMO. Worth a 2nd snip for his analysis of Monica Goodling alone:
“Within the Bush administration, there are hundreds of Monica Goodlings, and she was their ideal. A zealot for the cause, she apparently divides the world into good and evil, sacred and profane. She interprets criticism and debate as a mortal threat to all that is good and holy. She sees any institution of American life that is not devoted to the flag and cross to which she pledges and worships as twisted, biased and infernal. (To Goodling, CNN is “a force of the left.”) She cannot distinguish between her absolute beliefs and their political instrumentality. She considers objective and professional analysis a ruse, an ideology in itself, a false faith.”
Sally @ 29
Czars ‘r Us
Louise Desjardins @
17
Um, does the word “boondoggle” ring a bell?
the cheney spawn is their best op ed writer now, you have to use what you have. and you know they will use anything.
there is no more room for decorum. decorum is continuing this war. it is continuing the plundering of our country and many others. it is keeping our fearful congress from impeaching them.
I am sorry, after all this, how can any of us treat with republicans that have voted for these people? is it apathy? is it ignorance? I am sorry, they have had enough chances.
but you know it doesn’t change. My state rep emailed proudly yesterday that he had voted against women’s rights, against the environment and against workers rights. he was proud to do so and made up excuses that were so offensive that it is hard for me to imagine any person being able to stomach them. a proud republican tool in a red county in a blue state.
we must eliminate these people from positions of importance for ever. there is no room for the scum that want law and order for everyone except themselves.
GSD @ 32: What shall we call him? Nicholas II Redux?
Alice B @ 33: Good point!
oh and just so ya know . . .
there is a contretemps surrounding Wolfowitz’s girlfriend, her salary (higher than Condi’s), etc.
CREW
well when shipped off to State, guess where she landed ???
Village Voice
bg @ 42
And/or “junket.”
GSD @ 32
Here’s a theory — because he’s so frigging incompetent he wants to delegate the entire set of the responsibilities of POTUS to others, in hopes they (a) can do the job better than he was and (b) can serve as convenient whipping boys (because they WILL be boys, and preferably bald) when they can’t clean up his messes.
Just sayin’. I know these hypotheses aren’t original w/me. :) Some wise wag put it well last nite somewhere: “Required reading for post of War Czar: My Pet Scapegoat.“
TiredFed @ 28
There is no such thing as an Iraqi. The tribes and religious sects have been fed this phrase by power mongers who use “national” as a control tool.
The plebes know what this means on the surface, because it has been pounded into the outer layers of their brain. But, deep down inside, they don’t feel the same feelings as, say, an American does when he sees the flag.
This is a fundamental, and very critical difference in the human psyche of their culture vs. ours. The only time we can become capable of co-existing on this planet with them, is when we understand the differences of the cultural psyche.
We are trying to cram this concept called “national boundaries” into the “patriot level” of their psyche. It will never work. The only thing which can be hoped for is some control, unfortunately, through military control. It is perpetual, and Bush/Cheney want to start a war with Iran so their successors cannot “Put it back in the bottle.”
They want to unleash a perpetual conflict to have effective control of these people who do not think like you and I when it comes to “nationalistic patriotism.”
GSD @ 32, would declaring himself Czar rattle Congress in the least? Acting like one hasn’t done so. Strange that the son of a president (even a mediocre president) could have learned nothing, and cared less, about how a democracy should be governed from the top down.
Badwater @ 38
bean czar’s hard work. what i mean to say is, the work’s hard.
which is why i want summun else tdo it.
Here’s a Presidential candiate whom should get much more attention then he does. Article over at rawstory:
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee, has sent a letter to the CEOs of seven major oil companies demanding to know why gas prices could soon climb to $4 a gallon.
First I heard of this. Does it mean we get more gas if we buy it on a cold day, in the morn or evening & less gas when we buy on a hot day or in the middle of the day?
you are aware, gasoline expands as it warms, and the amount of energy in a gallon falls, thus providing less value per gallon.
Sally @ 49
He had “other priorities.”
bg,
not her first time -
January 2007 she wrote a sharply worded op-ed in the Washington Post titled “Retreat Isn’t an Option.
WaPo
Sally @ 49
IMHO, GWB should be known as “Bush the Lesser,” just to distinguish him from and rank him relative to his not-so-great father. Perhaps we could call him “Less” for short.
As we mourn Kurt Vonnegut today, I’m reminded that he was the master of the illusory, that everything is not always as it seems. His collection of short stories “Welcome to the Monkey House,”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.....nkey_House
illustrates brilliantly the absurdity to which humans will go to justify their own existence. Every time I hear a new explanation for why a Bushie broke the law, I ask myself, “am I living in a Kurt Vonnegut novel?”
A modern day Jonathan Swift, Vonnegut’s voice will be sorely missed.
bg @ 42
Um, does the word “boondoggle” ring a bell?
“Hey, kiddo, come sit on Daddy’s lap (HehHeh). Y’know how my ratings are in the toilet? And America kinda loves you more because you’re preggers and going to give me a grandchild (no matter if you’re a godless lesbo who used a turkeybaster instead of some real MAN’s Little Soldier as God intended)? Well I think they’d pay attention to this important message if you’d carry my water for me on this one. Come on, help me pass this water…”
Yek.
Some people say that a power lesbian having a baby with her partner emboldens other lesbians.
JF @ 52
Little George’s dad found ways to get him though the schools he attended. Learning was never part of the process.
This criticism might have a shred of credibility if it was in the service of a foreign policy that actually accomplished something.
ANY Cheney calling forthe time to face facts can’t be serious. Thge fact sare, we can’t even keep the green zone safe. Facts are, our ability to create anything that resembles a working democracy in the Middle East through the use of our military is practically nil. Facts are, everything we’ve veen told did happen, is happening or will happen in the Middle East by anyone named Cheney has been wrong. Hell, Dick can’t even predict the past with any accuracy. I’m just waiting to see when the skanky Lynne will pop up to sreech about Nancy. At least Mary had the good sense to get pregnant and shut up.
Note to Cheney’s daughter: Stop trying to micromanage Congress.
So, remember one of the main reasons for the US putting our strong footprint in the Middle east was to bring order to the region. You know, how all that instability helped to promote and create terrorism.
Well, 5 years after Afghanistan and 4 years after Iraq, how is the region looking?
Let’s go to the top headlines for the day on Yahoo:
As of 10:59 a.m. EDT
• Bombing at Iraqi parliament kills 2
• Turkey launches offensives on rebels
• Syria, Israel rebuff unofficial envoy
• At least 35 Afghan militants killed
• Death toll in Algeria bombings hits 33
• India test-fires nuclear-capable missile
• Musharraf: 300 foreign militants killed
Looks like we can say ‘mission abolished’.
-GSD
Um, not sure if a trip to the WaPoo could be called a “junket.”
Even if the Poo is junk.
As a former intern at the Dept of State, it was easy to spot the political appointees roaming the halls, as opposed to the career foreign service officers. The political appointees were in it for the power and the money that would come afterwards, and that was oh-so-easy to see.
You can call it “pay-dar.”
As a matter of survival (being on the lowest rung of the hierarchy), interns develop pay-dar on their very first day, if they didn’t have it when they arrived.
(Of course, there were also the “politically-connected” interns, who were even easier to spot . . . but that’s another story.)
Sorta OT, but I just put this on HuffPo in response to their great headline article with the helicopter above (what might be) Baghdad, trumpeting the terrible bombing in the heart of the Green Zone:
oldtree @ 43
I think we should tell them to go back where they came from - 18th Century England!
SOS at 56 — Liz is the heterosexual married with children daughter (whose husband is, incidentally, on the WH dole working for Homeland Security). Mary is the currently pregnant one with a long-term lesbian partner who works as her father’s personal assistant, press liaison. And, for the record, I hope her pregnancy is uneventful and the baby is healthy, and the child ought to be left out of this.
OnTheCusp @ 57:
IIRC, Liz C. is the straight, married daughter. Mary C. is the lesbian.
Minnesotachuck @
8
I’ve seen reports on military-related websites that the exodus rates for non-USMA junior officers and senior non-coms with 10-15 years of service are similarly high. When people bail when within sight of the 20 year retirement threshold it’s an ominous sign. These folks would have been the core of the future Army, folks.
That’s no lie.
54%? :::Gulp:::
Used to, the retention rates for the Academy grads, all branches, was way up there. You didn’t fight for admittance and endure four years of West Point (or USAFA or Annapolis) to bail the first chance available. The people who wanted to be there wanted to be there more than anything. They could have gone to their pick of the best universities–they chose the Academy.
I never thought I’d see the day when the retention rate for West Pointers dropped so low. Of course, this could be an Army problem. Anyone know the stats for USAFA or Annapolis? If it’s showing up for them, too, then the military is in serious trouble, especially 10 years from now, when these people would be moving into much bigger positions. I’m not saying that only Academy grads can fill those positions…but I’m worried that most of what remains of the top officer corps after this will be the wingnuttiest Bush cultists.
Not good. Not good, at all.
Saw the movie Shooter yesterday it is about a corrupt Gov including a corrupt Senator, General & Atny. General, among others.
mc @ 55
Swift definitely comparable. I’m sad that Vonnegut never made it to the L.A. 2007 Music Center Speaker Series for which he was scheduled…
07/17/03
InfoClearingHouse by way of the Washington Times, re. US deep raid into Syria.
Setup
But one administration official described the intelligence as “totally false,” and a former CIA official labeled it “flimsy” and another former U.S. intelligence official called it “almost non-existent.”
One former senior CIA official with access to current intelligence information said he believed the source of the intelligence was Israel, which for months has said either Saddam or weapons of mass destruction were being smuggled into Syria.
“The Izzies (Israelis) have been pitching this to anyone who would listen,” the former CIA official said.
[snip]
Serving and former U.S. intelligence officials attributed a political motive to the attacks, alleging they were designed to disrupt cooperation between the CIA and Syrian intelligence.
“Syria has given us invaluable help on hunting down members of al-Qaida, and they were instrumental in ex-filtrating some major Iraqi fugitives back to Baghdad,” one former senior CIA official said. “That is not to everyone’s liking.”
In early May, two top Iraqi biological scientists who had been hiding in safe havens in Syria were ex-filtrated back to Iraq where they were captured by U.S. military forces, former CIA officials said.
[snip]
“The Syrians have been an incredible help in sharing intelligence,” one serving U.S. intelligence officer said.
Senior Pentagon leaders, who administration officials describe as being very close to Israel, have been unhappy with the increasingly close CIA-Syria ties and used the June 18 attack to disrupt the CIA-Syrian intelligence relationship.
“I think that certain Pentagon officials want to see (Syrian president) Bashar Assad deposed and Syria sign a peace treaty with Israel,” said former senior DIA official Pat Lang.
Interesting that Liz keeps her father’s name. I’m sure it is because the roots of her feminism go deep.
Bush is praying the whole wall of secrecy holds up for another 18 months.
With breeches coming to light like -
- the back-channel e-mail/text systems
- Gonzo lying to Congress, and
- the ‘managed’ news on Iraq falling apart
Any one of which could topple BushCo - Why wouldn’t they conclude that their best strategy for avoiding being held to account for destroying the Country is to:
Attack Iran, and
Invoke the Unitary Executive, tying-up the next 18 months in a Constitutional Crises?
oldtree @ 43 - I’m sure the Bush twins are working on their own op-ed’s. They have to write between parties so it takes a long time. It’s hard work.
This nugget (or gem) is buried (somewhat) in Sid’s piece in Salon, but is quite apt and cogent–and succinct:
Fred Thompson. Our next prez?
Puesto @ 48
I agree. just use “Iraqis” as shorthand for those poor souls who live in the vicinity of hell on earth. we were Americans before we ever had a flag; we just didn’t fully realize it. folks know where “home” is, even if there is no national boundary to claim. and we are occupying their “home.”
(Most of the posters here this morning seem to be punch-drunk, including me. Small wonder with what is going on in the name of democracy.)
The Cheney offspring have to protect their inheritance in the rich oil regions Daddy has opened up for them. Speaker Pelosi might be their spoiler in so many ways.
jmba @ 10
Thanks for bringing up Phase II of the SSCI
Phase II has also been one of my obsessions for the last three years. I have obsessively called into radio shows and asked host to do a show on Phase II and all of the delays.
Senator Pat Roberts did everything they he could to delay and divert that investigation. Let’s hope that Rockerfeller does the public ,especially the people who have lost their lives or family members justice by
holding those responsible (Feith and the Office of Special Plans, the White House Iraq Group, and the Office of Net Assessments) for the false pre war intelligence. This seems the very least that our Reps can do for those who have lost their lives in this war of choice.
It seemed rather odd that the words that the Pentagons Inspector General used to describe the manipulation of pre-war intelligence as “inappropriate”. That would describe lies under oath about a B/J. Not the mis-use of intelligence that has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries. I would define that as “criminal”, but I am just a peasant
Let’s keep pushing.
Here are a few articles about Phase II. Can not find the timeline that I thought Think Progress posted a year ago. Will keep looking.
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/.....y-roberts/
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/.....se-claims/
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/.....stonewall/
EPU’d from earlier thread:
Gunga Djinn @ 69
The Hatch Act was passed in 1939. It’s been around MUCH longer than GWB. Now, it wouldn’t surprise me if some modifications have been made to the Act since it was passed, but it was around LONG before Watergate!
Marie Roget @ 71
he was as good as we had. no one had a better nose for bullshit, or a pen for calling it out.
as much a beacon in his way as orwell was, and if you know me, you know that’s the highest praise i can offer.
a sad sad day.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 67
Info gratefully accepted (I didn’t have the time to refresh my memory) and your point about leaving the child out of it is VERY true. Mea culpa on both counts. /blush thanks. I have very close lesbian relatives and I would hate it if their kids were tarred as “collateral damage” which we all deplore. I join w/you in your best wishes for the health of mother and daughter.
GSD @ 62
But . . . but . . .
Bush has brought orders to the middle east. He’s ordered the Iraqis to do things. He’s ordered the Iranians to stop doing things. He’s ordered the Saudis and the Syrians and the Lebanese and the Israelis and the Egyptians and . . . gosh, I can’t think of anyone in the region he hasn’t ordered around.
Bush’s problem is that he can’t find someone who can take orders.
Seymour Hersh on the Syria raid topic.
http://tinyurl.com/2fo362
American intelligence and State Department officials have told me that by early 2002 Syria had emerged as one of the C.I.A.’s most effective intelligence allies in the fight against Al Qaeda, providing an outpouring of information that came to an end only with the invasion of Iraq.
[snip]
Nevertheless, after September 11th the Syrian leader, Bashar Assad, initiated the delivery of Syrian intelligence to the United States. The Syrians had compiled hundreds of files on Al Qaeda, including dossiers on the men who participated—and others who wanted to participate—in the September 11th attacks. Syria also penetrated Al Qaeda cells throughout the Middle East and in Arab exile communities throughout Europe. That data began flowing to C.I.A. and F.B.I. operatives.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 77
no.
Ugh. Dick Cheney. He moves in a cloud of dry ice smelling like sulfur, in order to hide the cloven feet and forked tail.
The policy aspects of Pelosi’s trip are well commented on. Here’s another angle.
Given the personal relationships between Barbara Bush, her husband and George the Lesser, it absolutely has to drive Junior insane to be schooled by a woman!
I think the smartest tactic Democrats could employ (af